(8721) AMOS Outer Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 14 January 1996 by AMOS at Haleakala.
Named for the Air Force Maui Optical Station (AMOS), the research and development arm of the Maui Space Surveillance System at Haleakala on Maui, Hawaii. The AMOS project for observations of minor planets is the result of a collaboration between the Air Force Research Laboratory and Eleanor Helin's observing programs at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This collaboration began in 1993 and continues today. AMOS performs follow-up observations for several programs, primarily the highly successful JPL NEAT program.Naming citation (19980808/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
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Where AMOS is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: AMOS is 3.90 au from the Sun and 3.77 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 8721 |
| Provisional designation | 1996 AO3 |
| Orbit class | Outer Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 49.9 km (#755 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0235 |
| Rotation period | 29.1 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 11.49 |
| Orbital period | 7.65 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.88 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 3.78 – 3.99 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0281 |
| Inclination | 5.45° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 2.77 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.